Oil and Vinegar

Oil and vinegar are very common European and Mediterranean condiments used on bread and many other things.  In Italian restaurants in the United States, it's common for some olive oil and balsamic vinegar to be poured out onto a plate so that bread can be dipped into it as an alternative to putting butter on the bread.  You can buy oil and vinegar as many online stores, or check a local gourmet or imported food grocery store.

When people talk about using oil and vinegar, they usually have specific products in mind and are not talking about canola oil and apple cider vinegar.  In this context, oil usually means extra virgin olive oil which has been pressed out of olives and is of a high enough quality that it can be eaten raw.  This type of oil is surprisingly healthy and has great flavor but none of the fast that we are supposed to avoid in modern cuisine.  Don't confuse this type of oil with other cooking oils which may be high in bad fats and are not good to eat raw on bread.  The vinegar is usually a balsamic vinegar which is a dark and syrupy vinegar originally made from red wine and produced in Modena, Italy.  Real balsamic vinegar has a dark, rich and complex taste that is very different from a lighter cooking vinegar that might have been made from a white wine or from apple cider. 

You can buy an oil and vinegar set online or in many gourmet grocery stores which can be a great gift for food loving friends who want to have a matching pair of bottles on the table for enjoying their bread dipped in oil and vinegar just like the Italians do.  In fact, eating your bread this way can be a lot healthier than eating bread with butter since many butters, while delicious, can be high in cholesterol and high in the saturated fats that are suspected to underly so many health problems these days.  Using oil and vinegar on your bread is not only a way of enjoying a touch of relaxing European lifestyle, but it can also be a great way to start eating a healthier diet too!

Oil and vinegar are often used as a salad dressing in the form of a vinaigrette.  You may wonder how a fine vinaigrette from a restaurant goes on the greens so well without separating since everyone knows that oil and vinegar refuse to combine together and prefer to remain separate.  The secret is an emulsifying agent with can cause the two to combine nicely which is normally a mustard in the case of a vinaigrette. You can make your own vinaigrette at home with oil, vinegar, a teaspoon of a good mustard, salt, pepper and a clove of garlic cut up finely.